Grand alliance's maiden Bihar budget aims to win over youth, better health

PATNA: With hopes of winning over the youth by creating more jobs ahead of next year's Lok Sabha polls, finance minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary on Tuesday presented the maiden budget of the seven-party grand alliance and his own first worth Rs 2.61 lakh crore for 2023-24 in the state assembly.
Keeping the fiscal deficit within the mandatory 3 % of the gross state domestic product (GSDP), as stipulated by the fiscal responsibility and budget management (FRBM) Act, he announced a 10 percent increase over the 2022-23 budget of Rs 2.37 lakh crore.

Govt to provide 10 lakh jobs to youths: Finance minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary
Also, Choudhary announced no new taxes to increase the state's own revenue receipts, nor did he announce any new scheme. "Like in the past, the government has practised effective financial management in tune with the FRBM Act," a beaming Choudhary said after presenting the budget.
"The government has already taken required steps to address the pressing concerns of youths for employment and work opportunities. We are on course to provide 10 lakh government jobs and have also put in place a robust mechanism to create equal number of work opportunities for skilled and entrepreneurial youths, besides others, as had been promised by CM Nitish Kumar," he said, adding that the 2023-24 budget has made required financial allotments for the various departments.
Choudhary said that empowerment of women, along with providing government jobs and the creation of work opportunities for youths, who constitute 32 percent of the state's population, continues to remain the guiding vision.
He said that while the 2022-23 state budget was pegged at Rs 2.37 lakh crore, the fiscal deficit for the 2023-24 budget is 2.98 per cent of the GSDP estimated to be Rs 8.58 lakh crore and calculated by department of planning and development.
The annual scheme expenditure has been kept at Rs 1 lakh crore, the same as in 2022-23 financial year, but the establishment and committed expenditure in the new budget is Rs 1.60 lakh crore -- slightly over Rs 24,000 crore than Rs 1.37 lakh crore in 2022-23.
Further, Choudhary said that the 2023-24 budget is revenue surplus valued at Rs 4,478.97 crore, which will be utilised for investment in physical infrastructure that will generate productive capital assets like roads, buildings, power, schools, health centres and irrigation schemes, among others.
The revenue surplus is the amount had by subtracting revenue expenditure from revenue receipts, and Rs 4,478.97 crore revenue surplus is 0.52 per cent of the GSDP.
While the total revenue receipts have been put at Rs 2.12 lakh crore, it includes